The Bravest of the Brave
by DeadFlameV2
Summary: Hinata has been recruited to the special team of genin sent to retrieve Sasuke. She sees this as her chance to show her true strength, but when on the brink of death, Hinata realises that this is her only chance to reveal her true feelings for Naruto.
1. The New Team

**Hey everyone, me again, and I brought a new story. Well, read and enjoy. **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO **

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The Bravest of the Brave

All was quiet in the Hokage's office. The Godaime Hokage had her head on her folded hands, preparing to inform the Chuunin in front of her of his new mission.

"Shikamaru, I have a very important mission for you." Said the Hokage. Shikamaru had really wished that the Hokage had picked another shinobi for this assignment, considering that it was currently four in the morning. "As you may or may not know Uchiha Sasuke has left the village and is heading to Orochimaru." stated Tsunade. "What?!! Sasuke left?! Why?" said Shikamaru, practically yelling. He knew that it was out of place to lose his cool like that, but this was very unexpected. "Sasuke left to gain power from Orochimaru. It is my understanding that he has placed his cursed seal on Sasuke and it has potentially corrupted the boy." said Tsunade with a look of intense seriousness. Shikamaru was shocked out of his mind, not only had the lone Uchiha left the village, but he also sided with Konoha's most notorious, evil, and sadistic enemy. "Now then, your mission is to track and retrieve Sasuke before he crosses the border. If he does cross the border the mission will immediately end and there will be nothing we can do to get Sasuke back. As you can see, time is of the essence."

Shikamaru took a moment to digest the information. _'It seems that this should be easy enough. Just find Sasuke and beat him to a pulp and bring him-' _Shikamaru's thoughts were interrupted by the Hokage. "I am assuming that Orochimaru has sent guards to escort Sasuke to the Sound Village." _'Damn, this mission just got a lot more troublesome.'_

"I request that only jounin and chuunin be assigned to this mission." said Shikamaru. "I'm afraid that I cannot do that Shikamaru. Unfortunately all of the available jounin and chuunin have been assigned to missions outside of the village. However you may select as many available genin as you are able to find." said Tsunade." Yes Hokage-sama" said Shikamaru as he made his way for the door. "Oh, and Shikamaru, there are two genin I would like to recommend." said Tsunade with a smirk. After Tsunade had told Shikamaru about the two specific genin, Shikamaru left, muttering a "troublesome" as he closed the door.

Tsunade enjoyed her ability to use missions as an excuse to play match-maker. Even though the mission at hand was of the up-most importance, Tsunade still had a chance to make a certain lavender-eyed girl's dreams come true.

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_'Hmm...I suppose that I should start with the Hokage's first recommendations.' _thought Shikamaru as he headed for Naruto's apartment. Shikamaru knocked on Naruto's door and waited for a few seconds. When Shikamaru got no response he knocked again. When Shikamaru yet again got no response he got a little impatient. He tried opening the door and to his surprise it opened. Shikamaru let an evil grin creep onto his face as he spotted the sleeping Naruto. Shikamaru snuck over to the small kitchen and filled a glass with ice-cold water. Shikamaru crept over to Naruto's bed. Shikamaru poured the icy liquid onto his blond haired friend earning an extremely loud scream from the blond. 

When Naruto looked around to see where the freezing water came from. When he spotted the lazy genius rolling on the ground with laughter he said. "SHIKAMARU!! What the hell were you thinking pouring water on me this early? Wait, why the hell are you even in here!" yelled the enraged Naruto. After Shikamaru got over his laugh attack he said.

"Sorry Naruto, but I couldn't resist. You weren't answering the door so I had to wake you up some how. Anyway, I have a mission that we are supposed to do. Alright, I'm short on time right now so, Sasuke left the village and went to Orochimaru. I have been assigned to lead a team of genin and track Sasuke down and bring him back. So are you coming or what? Said Shikamaru in one breath. Naruto's mouth practically dropped to the floor as he yelled "WHAAAT!!!" Shikamaru stuck a finger in his ear to try to block out the loud noise. "Geez you're loud in the morning." he murmured. "You heard me, now do you accept or not?" asked the annoyed genius. "Of course I accept, just let me get changed." said Naruto as he ran to his closet. Shikamaru decided to wait outside, not wanting to see Naruto get changed. "Man this is gonna be troublesome." said Shikamaru as he let out a long yawn.

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Naruto had finally finished changing and was wondering where Shikamaru was leading him. "Hey, Shikamaru where the heck are we going? Shouldn't we be heading for the gate?" asked Naruto. Shikamaru sighed, not wanting to explain where the two were heading, _again_. "I told you already, we're going to find others for the mission." said the annoyed genius. "Well, how much farther. I thought that we had to rescue Sasuke." said a pouting Naruto. "Listen we still need at least three more genin. I already know where two of them are." said a very annoyed Shikamaru. "Hokage-sama said that the next would be at the training grounds." 

Shikamaru and Naruto had arrived at the training field to find that no one appeared to be there. Naruto was about to yell at Shikamaru for leading him on a wild goose chase, when he heard something that sounded like a squeak. He looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a pair of pearl-colored eyes before they hid behind a tree. _'Was that Hinata?'_

"Hey, is that you Hinata?" called Naruto. He heard another squeak and the pale-eyed girl stepped out from behind the tree. "h-hello N-Naruto-kun." stuttered Hinata as a small blush crept onto her cheeks. "Ah, there you are, Hinata." said Shikamaru. Shikamaru then proceeded to explain what happened to Sasuke and their mission. "So, if you accept than you will accompany Naruto and myself in retrieving Sasuke." finished Shikamaru. _'I'll be on a mission with Naruto-kun'_ thought Hinata. "I-I accept." Said Hinata. Shikamaru nodded and the three took off to find the last two recruits.

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Hinata couldn't stop sneaking glances at her secret crush. She couldn't believe her luck; she was going to be on a mission with Naruto. _'This will be my chance to show him how strong I have become.' _Thought Hinata as Naruto smiled at her. Hinata blushed hard a let a small smile slip onto her lips. 

The trio arrived at the Akimichi home, obviously there to recruit Chouji. "Hey, Chouji, hurry and open the door." Said Shikamaru as he knocked on the door. When he got no response he pulled a bag of potato chips from his chuunin vest. "Hey, what's with the chips Shikamaru." asked Naruto curiously.

"Just help me eat them you two." Said Shikamaru as he opened the bag. As they were about to finish off the chips Shikamaru pulled out the last chip. Just as he was about to eat it the door swung open and Chouji flew out, snatching the chip in the process. "There's no way I'm letting you guys have the last chip!" yelled Chouji as he ate the chip. Naruto and Hinata sweat-dropped.

"Hey, shikamaru, are you sure we should bring Chouji with us?" whispered Naruto. "Of course. You guys don't know how strong Chouji really is." Said Shikamaru with a smirk. Shikamaru then proceeded to explain the mission again. After which Chouji accepted eagerly. "Alright, so who's next Shikamaru." asked Naruto as he folded his arms behind his head. "Uhh...I was thinking Shin-" the genius was cut of by a bark from Akamaru. "Shino is on a special mission with his father right now. Although if you guys still needed another member for your team, than I'm in." said Kiba. Shikamaru nodded and the group sped off towards the main gates.

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When the new team of genin reached the gates Shikamaru said."Alright, let me see what equipment you all have brought before we head out." Everyone pulled out all of their kunai, shuriken, and scrolls and presented them to Shikamaru. 

"Now then, I have devised a formation that will allow us to pursue the enemy without much trouble from surprise attacks." said Shikamaru. "In front will be Kiba and Akamaru. With your enhanced sense of smell and knowledge of the wilderness in the area, you will be able to spot the enemy from a good distance away." Kiba nodded as Shikamaru continued. "I will be next. If Kiba spots anything than I will alert the rest of the team. Also my **Kagemane no Jutsu **can stop any attacks that go unseen. Next will be Chouji. Due to your high physical strength you will serve as support to anyone who is in need of it." Chouji nodded, signaling Shikamaru to continue. "After Chouji will be Naruto. You will serve a purpose similar to Chouji only you will be mainly giving support to Hinata if the need arises." said Shikamaru. Naruto only grinned and put his arm around Hinata causing her to blush. "No problem, me and Hinata have it covered." he said. Shikamaru nodded and continued. "And finally Hinata will cover the rear. With your Byakugan you will be able to spot any enemies in any direction and alert the rest of the team." said Shikamaru. The shy girl nodded, trying not to pass out from the close contact she had with Naruto.

"Alright, that's enough." he said with a sigh. "Now as you all know Sasuke has left the village to pursue Orochimaru for power. I have never really had any kind of friendly relationship towards Sasuke nor do I particularly like him very much, but the reason that we are going after him is because he is a comrade. We cannot stand by and watch as one of our own gets corrupted by that mad man. Sasuke is a Konoha shinobi and I intend to keep it that way." said Shikamaru. "I don't like doing troublesome things like this but unfortunately this is our job as shinobi." said Shikamaru."Now if there are no questions we should get start-" Shikamaru was cut off.

"Wait. Take me with you" said Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, but Hokage-sama has already informed me of your failed attempt at getting Sasuke to stay. There would be no point in bringing you along so I can't." said Shikamaru. Tears started to stream down Sakura's face as the group started to make their way down the road. "Wait. Naruto, please bring Sasuke back." she said as the tears started to come faster. Naruto smiled and said." Don't worry Sakura; I'll definitely bring Sasuke back, that's a promise."

As the group started walking down the road Naruto thought about what he had just said. He wondered if he would really be able to bring Sasuke back. He quickly shook the thoughts from his mind and thought._' Don't worry Sakura, I **will** bring Sasuke back.' _

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**That's all for this chapter, the next will be up shortly.**

_**please review**_


	2. Trapped

_I'm finally back with another chapter! I know it's been a long time, but what can I say, I'm a lazy guy. ;P_

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO

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The group of highly skilled genin were jumping through the trees towards their quarry, Uchiha Sasuke. A certain pale-eyed girl's thoughts were elsewhere however. Hinata had been absent-mindedly staring at Naruto for the past twenty-minutes. _'Naruto-kun...' _was the only thought running through Hinata's mind. Her thoughts were broken as the center of her attention suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Kiba, how much farther are they?" asked Naruto. Kiba sniffed the air, trying to locate the enemy. "Damn, were too far for me to smell anything." he said as a scowl covered his face. Hinata decided to activate her Byakugan to solve the problem. After activating her blood-limit Hinata's vision increased, allowing her to see far in front of herself. Finally locating the enemy, Hinata said "T-they are a-about a h-hundred m-meters away. They seem t-to be r-resting."

As the group continued to jump from tree to tree Kiba spoke up. "Ugh...there's a strong smell of blood near-by." he said, a look of disgust appearing on his face. "There must have been a fight. That is probably why the enemy is resting. This is our opportunity to launch a surprise attack on them. Everybody, speed up!" said Shikamaru. The group did as the chuunin said and quickened their pace. As the group closed in on the sound-nin Shikamaru yelled "Everybody, stop!" The group all landed on a large tree branch. Hinata activated her Byakugan to find the cause of the sudden halt. She gasped in surprise as she noticed the exploding tags placed around the area. They almost walked into an exploding field trap. "Damn, the enemy has placed exploding tags all around this area. If we were to have moved into that area the exploding tags would have blown us to pieces, this is so troublesome." said Shikamaru with a scowl. "Looks like we'll have to take the long way around." said Kiba.

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The group was currently maneuvering around a field of trip wires. "Remember to watch your steps." said Shikamaru specifically looking at a certain blonde shinobi. "What? I'm watching my feet." said Naruto as he sent a glare at Shikamaru. "Naruto-kun, stop!" yelled Hinata. Naruto suddenly stopped only centimeters away from stepping on an almost invisible trip wire. Shikamaru had used his **Kagemane no Jutsu** to stop Naruto in his tracks. "You were saying Naruto?" said Shikamaru in an annoyed voice. Naruto put on a sheepish grin and the group continued. Kiba later informed the team that the enemy was nearby.

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Shikamaru had decided that the group should break off into groups: He and Hinata, and Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba. Shikamaru instructed the latter of the groups to stay back and wait to confront the enemy while he and Hinata went ahead to spy on the enemy to look for weaknesses. Shikamaru stopped, crouched in a bush to observe the four sound-nin. "Where's Sasuke? He's not dead is he?" asked Shikamaru as Hinata approached. By the sound of Shikamaru's voice, Hinata figured that he was extremely worried about the successfulness of the mission. She activated her Byakugan and immediately saw Sasuke in a large barrel in the middle of the group. 

"H-he i-is in that b-barrel." whispered Hinata. Shikamaru seemed to relax at the news, but still seemed slightly worried. Suddenly a kunai sped past the two, lodging itself in the tree directly behind them. The two barely noticed the exploding tags attached to the kunai. They made a desperate attempt to escape, but weren't fast enough to dodge the explosion and were sent flying high in the air. The two landed on the ground hard with a sickening 'thud'.

Shikamaru looked up to see that the rest of his team was on the ground behind him. He looked up and froze with fear, standing above him were four dangerous looking sound-nin. The one that had a strange extension on the back of his neck said "Looks like we were followed." Shikamaru frowned. The tanned one with six arms smirked and said "It's about time we were able to have a little fun." The one with the weird growth frowned "Kidomaru, we don't have time to waste fighting these pests." "Then let me stay and take care of them." said Kidomaru. "No, I will fight them." said the one with an orange-mohawk. As soon as he said that he made some seals and slammed his palms to the ground. Before the group could react they were trapped inside of a dome made purely out of rock. "Crap, what are we gonna do now?!" yelled Naruto.

"Looks like its time to show off my new move." said Kiba with a grin. "Akamaru." Akamaru barked in response when Kiba went down on all fours. Akamaru transformed into a clone of Kiba and both launched off the ground in a spinning motion when Kiba yelled "**Gatsuuga**". The attacks barely damaged the dome. Kiba and Akamaru continued until the entire dome was covered with circular marks. "I can't do anymore. It feels like my energy is being drained out of my body." said a panting Kiba. All of the marks on the dome suddenly started regenerating. "What the hell is going on?!" yelled Naruto.

Hinata activated her Byakugan to find the problem. She gasped when she saw that not only was the dome reinforced with chakra, but their own chakra was being drained. "T-the d-dome is d-draining our c-chakra." said Hinata.

Shikamaru thought only one thing. _'This is so troublesome.'

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_That's it for this chapter. Short I know but I felt that it was necessary to end it here. Please review._


	3. The Begining of the End

_**Hey me again, with an all new chapter. As many of you who have seen this episode in the anime will notice that this isn't exactly how all of this happened, but I believe I got the basics right, so try to cope with it.**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO

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"Alright fat-ass, after you're done eating, hurry up and catch up to us, I doubt this six-armed bitch can carry the barrel for long." said Tayuya referring to Kidomaru. "Shut up Tayuya!" yelled Kidomaru.

"Both of you shut up. We are on a tight schedule." said Sakon. The two instantly stopped their bickering, realizing the consequences of being late. "Jirobo, don't mess around with those genin." said Sakon before the three remaining sound-nin jumped into the trees.

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An uncomfortable silence filled the stone prison that housed the dying leaf-nin. Inside the dome, the genin sat trying to devise a plan to escape their chakra-absorbing prison. Shikamaru kneeled down in front of one of the rock walls as he placed the tips of his fingers together and thought of possible escape plans. Naruto stood and walked over to the side opposite to Shikamaru and attempted to form a Rasengan. The blue chakra swirled in his hand for a moment before dissipating.

_'Damn, I can't even use Rasengan with this stupid dome draining my chakra.'_ thought Naruto

The others just sat, panting as their chakra was slowly being sucked away. Shikamaru's eyes snapped open as he figured out a plan of escape.

"Hey, whoever you are, if you release us we will stop our pursuit of Sasuke." said Shikamaru. Jirobo smirked and said "You really are one stupid leader. What makes you think I would let your whole team go?"

"Just me is fine. No need to free the others." said Shikamaru. All of the sound-nin's prisoners all stared wide-eyed at Shikamaru, all except Chouji, who had started eating a bag of potato chips.

"Shikamaru?! What the hell is the matter with you?!" yelled Naruto. Shikamaru remained silent.

"I take back what I said. You're not a stupid leader; you're a piece of trash. Only trash would abandon their entire team just to save themselves." said Jirobo with a laugh. Shikamaru remained silent. Chouji had finished his third bag of chips by now and was waiting for instructions. Shikamaru finally stood and turned around. "Alright guys from now on speak quietly." said Shikamaru. "What the hell do you mean speak quietly?! You're lucky I haven- hmmph..." Naruto's mouth had been covered by Kiba's hand. "He said to be quiet, idiot." growled Kiba.

"Now then, I have figured a way out of this thing. The dome is surrounded by a thick layer of chakra, which is why it was able to regenerate. The chakra is thickest were ever the user is and is thinnest on the opposite end, meaning it will take longer to regenerate." explained Shikamaru. _'So that was why Shikamaru was talking with the enemy.'_ thought Naruto. "Okay, Kiba I need you to use another Gatsuuga on the wall right there." Shikamaru pointed at the part of the wall. Kiba nodded and started his attack.

"**Gatsuuga**" yelled Kiba as he and Akamaru struck the wall. The dent appeared to be regenerating, but at a very slow pace. Shikamaru threw a kunai at the spot to mark it. "Okay Chouji, your turn." said Shikamaru with a grin. Chouji nodded and called out "**Baika no Jutsu**" causing his body to enlarge to the shape of a ball. He pulled his head, arms, and legs in his body and rolled like a ball. Chouji's speed increased and he charged for the marked wall. Chouji hit the wall with extreme force, blowing open a large hole.

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"What!" yelled Jirobo in disbelief. His astonishment was soon replaced by an evil smirk. "So the piece of trash helped his team after all. No matter you will still die." said Jirobo. Chouji visibly shook with anger as his best friend was insulted. "Shut up! You don't know what your talking about, Shikamaru is a great leader!" yelled Chouji in sheer rage.

Jirobo let out a chuckle as he said "Trash is trash no matter how you look at it. Naruto and Kiba charged the large sound-nin only to be knocked away by Jirobo's strength. The two got up off the ground and cursed. They were about to charge again when Chouji yelled "NO! I'll take care of him."

"You guys go ahead I can handle him." the others looked on with disbelief as Chouji stepped forward. "Are you sure, Chouji?" asked Naruto "I mean, this guy is really strong." Chouji nodded and said "Go."

The group jumped into the trees, heading strait for the sound-nin. Jirobo let out another laugh as he noticed the rest of Chouji's team leave him behind. "Ha, now look what your stupid leader has done, he left you to die." Chouji glared at the sound-nin and said "I'll make you pay for insulting my best friend.

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As the group of genin wandered through the trees Shikamaru wondered if Chouji would really be alright against that guy. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use his special pills. Shikamaru had already thought up another potential plan to use on the remaining sound-nin.

As the group continued to gain on the enemy Shikamaru told the team of his new plan.

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The three remaining sound-nin had been jumping through the trees as quickly as possible. Kidomaru was panting by now from the weight of the barrel. Even though he had six arms, the stupid Uchiha was still heavy. _'Dammit, does Tayuya always have to be right.' _

"Where the hell is Jirobo." complained Kidomaru. As if to personally answer his question, Jirobo jumped up next to Kidomaru. "Finally, what the hell took you so long?" asked Kidomaru as he gave the barrel to Jirobo. Jirobo as he grabbed the barrel. The re-united sound four continued to their destination.

"Hey, fatass what took you? Did have a little trouble with those little bastards." said Tayuya.

"No. Sorry." was Jirobo's only response. The sound-nin's faces immediately hardened at the realization of the imposter. Kidomaru threw a kunai at 'Jirobo' causing him to drop the barrel. Tayuya caught it and resumed her position next to Sakon. 'Jirobo' released the **henge no jutsu **to reveal Shikamaru.

"Nice try, but the real Jirobo always corrected Tayuya's foul language." said Kidomaru with a grin. The others jumped onto the same branch as Shikamaru, realizing the enemy had figured the trick out.

"It looks like Jirobo couldn't even handle a bunch of kids. Oh well more fun for me." said Kidomaru with a sick grin. "You guys go on ahead, it's time I had some fun." The remaining two sound-nin obeyed and continued on without their teammate. "You're not getting away that easily." said Kiba as he tried to pursue the sound-nin. As soon as he jumped from the branch, a strange spider web caught him like a net and stuck him to another tree. Shikamaru attempted to free him but met the same fate as Kiba and was stuck to a different tree.

Naruto snarled in anger and made several Kage Bunshins that all attacked Kidomaru. Kidomaru jumped away from him and spit another web at him, only this one stuck him and his clones in between many tree branches making Naruto and his many clones look like a huge target.

"Naruto-kun!" yelled Hinata as she jumped from her perch to attack Kidomaru. Before she was close enough to make contact she was trapped within a cocoon made of web.

_'N-no... I can't move. I failed again.' _thought Hinata as she started to lose hope. Suddenly she remembered Naruto's match against Neji.

_Flashback _

_"Why do you continue to get up when fate has already decided the outcome of this match?" asked Neji as Naruto struggled to get up._

_"I told you, I'm not very good at giving up" he said with a grin._

_End Flashback_

_'No, I can't give up. Naruto needs my help.' _said Hinata as she activated her Byakugan. _'This web is reinforced with chakra even though it's out of his body...incredible.'

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Kidomaru landed on a large branch, made a seal and called out "**Ninpou: Kumo Nenkin**" (Golden Spider Spines) He then pulled six golden, hooked, blades out of his mouth. "Well, let's play a little game." said Kidomaru as he put on a sadistic grin. "Let's see how lucky you are." Kidomaru then proceeded to through one of his blades at the trapped Naruto's. It hit and...poof. "One down." he said as he threw another blade. Another poof. "You've got some pretty good lucky kid." said Kidomaru as he threw yet another blade. Another poof. "Wow kid, lets see if you're as lucky with two!" said Kidomaru as he tossed two of his blades this time. Two more poofs. "Wow, that is some amazing luck, but now its game over." said an excited Kidomaru. The last Naruto looked on in horror as the golden dagger sailed through the air toward him. It hit him directly in the stomach and...poof.

"What!" yelled Kidomaru, his grin instantly left his face. Kidomaru dove from the branch he was standing on to dodge the punch aimed at his head. He turned in mid-air and spit another web at Naruto sticking him to a tree like the others. "Good try kid, but not good enough." said Kidomaru, his grin present on his face yet again. His grin faded as he heard a tearing sound from behind. He looked on in shock as the cocoon he had trapped the girl in was torn to shreds.

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**_That's all for today. The main plot change from the anime to my story is in the next chapter!_**

_**Please Review**_


	4. Love and Death

**Hey everybody. It's been a hell of a long time since I've updated huh? Well I have the same excuse that I have for everything else I don't do. I was being lazy. What can I say?**

**Hopefully this chapter will make up for my long absence. If not...oh well. '**

**READ:**

**I am warning you all now. Most of this fight is based on the fight with Neji and Kidomaru. I know I said that the story would steer away from the anime/manga last chapter, but I figured the battle would be long enough, so sorry. The fight will start to change sometime during the middle and the end, so please read until then. I swear on my life that the story WILL stray away from the anime/manga next chapter so please keep reading the story.**

**DO NOT review saying it would have been better if I had made up my own battle, because quite frankly I don't give a damn. If I _had _made my own battle it would have only been about a paragraph or two. I'm not good with creating fight scenes. **

**Okay, sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. On with the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!!

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"Good try kid, but not good enough." said Kidomaru, his grin present on his face yet again. His grin faded as he heard a tearing sound from behind. He looked on in shock as the cocoon he had trapped the girl in was torn to shreds.

Everyone looked on in awe as the young Hyuuga Hinata gracefully fell from her former prison. Kidomaru joined the leaf-nin's shock as he wondered _'Wha...how could that little brat escape my **Kumo Shibari **_(Spider Cocoon) Hinata landed gracefully on a large tree branch. Hinata quickly jumped to each of her immobilized friends, quickly slicing their sticky bindings. She swiftly made her way to Naruto after she helped her other two teammates.

"A-are you o-okay Naruto-kun" asked the shy girl with a blush. Kiba sweat-dropped at the display. _'Of course she'd be concerned for _Naruto He thought with a scowl. _'She didn't even say a word to me or Shikamaru' _thought an irritated Kiba.

"Yeah...thanks Hinata." said the blonde. Hinata nodded as Kiba and Shikamaru landed on the branch she and Naruto were on. Hinata turned back to Kidomaru and jumped to a closer branch as she said "Naruto-kun, you, Kiba-kun, and Shikamaru go and catch up to the other enemies. I'll fight this one."

The others were shocked. Not only did Hinata speak clearly without stuttering, but she also practically ordered the team to move on. "But, Hinata, you can't beat that guy, none of us could even tou-" Naruto was cut off as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Kiba shake his head.

"What? Kiba, if Hinata fights that guy she'll be killed!" yelled the blond. "Trust me, she's doing this to prove that she's worth something, to prove that she isn't weak. If we interfere Hinata will think that we think she is weak and needs to be protected. She wants to prove that she isn't weak, to herself, to her clan, and most importantly...to you." said Kiba. Naruto's eyes widened as he thought over what Kiba said _'Why would she want to prove that...to me'._

"Just believe in her, Naruto." Naruto turned his attention towards the shy girl. _'Hinata...'_

"Go." said Hinata as she took her Jyuuken stance. Shikamaru and Kiba did as they were told and jumped to another set of branches, but Naruto was hesitant. He didn't want to leave another teammate behind, but he also didn't want to make Hinata feel like she was weak.

"Oi, Naruto, hurry up." yelled Shikamaru. Naruto looked to where Shikamaru had jumped off to and prepared to jump. He took one last glance at Hinata and thought _'Hinata...don't lose.' _With that, Naruto jumped off the branch.

"Oh no you don't, you little brat." said Kidomaru as he rocketed to the same branch that Hinata was on, landing right next to her. As soon as he reached the large branch, Kidomaru spit another web at Naruto, effectively sticking Naruto to another tree. "Naruto!" yelled Kiba and Shikamaru. "You guys keep going, you need to save Sasuke. Hinata and I will catch up later." said Naruto

Hinata's eyes widened as Kidomaru turned his attention towards her, his sick grin back on his face. Before Hinata had time to react, the back of Kidomaru's fist slammed against her cheek, which sent her flying towards another tree. Hinata recovered in mid air and landed on a tree branch, skidding backwards a few feet.

"Hinata!" yelled Naruto. Kidomaru looked back at Naruto. "Don't worry kid, I'll be sure to make your little girlfriend's death as quick and painless as possible." he said as his grin grew even wider. Naruto only glared at the six-armed man.

Hinata stood up and activated her Byakugan. Hinata ran to the end of the branch and jumped, charging towards Kidomaru. The six-armed man spit a web at Hinata which she sliced with her chakra enhanced Jyuuken strikes. Kidomaru spit two more webs at Hinata.

Hinata managed to slice through the first web, but was caught off guard by the second and was pinned to yet another tree. Kidomaru didn't let up though, he spit two more webs that completely covered Hinata's hands. "Heh, you're not getting away this time" he said. Kidomaru then pulled a long gold spear out of his mouth in the same way as the gold daggers.

"Now DIE!" yelled Kidomaru as he threw the golden spear at Hinata. Hinata's eyes widened as the spear sailed through the forest area at a dangerous velocity. Hinata closed her eyes and concentrated on releasing her chakra. The spear neared Hinata as she released her chakra from every chakra point on her body, destroying the net-like web that covered her body. Hinata launched herself off of the tree seconds before the spear pierced the tree.

_'Damn this girl. To be able to release chakra like that would take near perfect chakra control.'_ thought Kidomaru. Kidomaru pulled out two more golden daggers and prepared to strike the Byakugan-user. Hinata landed on the branch Kidomaru was on and rolled under a swipe from Kidomaru. Hinata attacked Kidomaru with a palm strike which was blocked by Kidomaru's daggers. She attacked again, pushing Kidomaru backwards. Hinata continued her assault forcefully pushing Kidomaru back. Kidomaru attempted another slash with one of his daggers, but Hinata pushed his arm away.

While Kidomaru was off balance Hinata thrust both of her palms into Kidomaru's chest, focusing as much chakra into the strike as possible, effectively destroying his heart. Kidomaru was sent flying through the trunk of the tree. Naruto looked on in shock as he watched Hinata launch the sound-nin through the tree. _'When did Hinata get this strong?' _

_'Did I...win?' _thought Hinata. Hinata kept her Byakugan activated and looked through the cloud of dust that had formed.

"Way to go Hinata! I can't believe you beat that guy!" cheered Naruto. Hinata blushed at the praise, but kept her attention on the cloud of dust. Hinata walked through the whole to find Kidomaru standing a few feet a way, panting heavily. He was covered in some strange golden armor.

"Heh...that was close. If I hadn't used **Yenkin no Yoroi **(Armor of Sticky Gold) I might actually be dead." said the sound-nin. The strange armor then began to crack and crumble off of his body. "W-what is t-that?" asked Hinata, her stutter finally returning.

"This..." said Kidomaru, as he held his hand out in front of him. The same golden substance formed on the top of his hand. "...is **Yenkin no Yoroi**. It is a metallic liquid that is made of a combination of my bodily fluids and chakra. I can excrete it from all of the pores on my body. Once it mixes with the oxygen in the air the liquid hardens becoming an armor that is stronger than steel. It is also impervious to chakra. That's why that palm strike to my heart didn't kill me." A small stream of blood ran down from his mouth, showing that the attack did do some damage.

Kidomaru suddenly jumped backwards off of the tree, disappearing into the many shrubs and bushes lining the forest floor. Hinata quickly jumped after him, landing in a small clearing. Hinata walked forward as she searched the surrounding area for the six-armed shinobi. Hinata froze when she heard a small snap. She quickly jumped to her right, dodging a wave of kunai that seemed to be made of the same golden substance as Kidomaru's other weapons. Hinata gasped when she heard another snap where she just landed. This time, Hinata dove forward to avoid two waves of kunai, coming from the left, right, and from behind.

_'Dammit, how can she keep dodging? The kunai from behind should have hit her. Does she have eyes in the back of her head?!' _thought the frustrated Kidomaru. Hinata was getting frustrated as well. She had wondered how one man could make so many traps in a matter of seconds. Her thoughts were interrupted by yet another snap. Hinata saw the kunai coming in all directions this time.

_'She won't be able to dodge all of those kun-' _Kidomaru's thoughts were interrupted by a yell."**Shugohakke Rokujuuyon Shoo!**"(Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) Kidomaru watched in shock as the swarm of kunai were sliced to tiny pieces by the many blades of chakra being emitted from Hinata's palms.

_'How the hell is this girl doing all of this. At this rate I might actually lose.'_ thought Kidomaru with pure horror. After all of the kunai had been reduced to rubble. Hinata turned her head in the direction of a large bush, a deadly glare present on her face. Hinata immediately charged the spot where the sound-nin was hiding. Kidomaru cursed and jumped to a high branch, finally finding a reason to activate his cursed seal.

Kidomaru smirked as he made a few hand seals. He slammed his palms against the branch and called out "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" (Summoning Technique). After he called out the name of the jutsu, Kidomaru was enveloped in smoke. The smoke quickly cleared to reveal a giant spider on a web directly above Kidomaru. Hinata watched as the spider created a large egg sack which quickly opened to reveal hundreds of smaller spiders. The small spiders quickly descended upon Hinata who immediately started **Shugohakke Rokujuuyon Shoo**. The slicing of the chakra blades not only instantly killed of all the spiders, but also destroyed the sticky webs that they were trying to immobilize her with. Soon the annoying spiders stop coming and Hinata stopped her jutsu. Hinata looked up and just barely jumped out of the way of the giant spider that had dropped from its web.

The giant spider charged Hinata head on, its fangs dripping with venom. The huge arachnid attempted to bite Hinata, but ended up with a mouth full of tree bark. It crushed the section of tree between it jaws and tried to slice Hinata in half with it's blade like legs. Hinata dodged again as she tried to think of a way to kill this huge annoyance.

After a few more dodged bites, slashes, and web like spears, Hinata had an idea. Hinata gathered her chakra to her palms. She lengthened it and sharpened it, as if she was about to use **Shugohakke Rokujuuyon Shoo **again. Instead she charged the overgrown spider as fast as she could go. The much slower arachnid couldn't react in time as Hinata sliced through its three left legs. The spider let out an ear splitting screech as it lost balance and toppled over. Hinata had her back to the monster as it spit another spear. Hinata hadn't seen the spear coming until it was mere feet away. She attempted to dodge but the sharp spear tore through her jacket and sliced her right side, leaving a deep gash, just barely under her ribs.

Hinata screamed out in pain as she fell to her knees. Tears filled her eyes as she shakily stood, but she refused to let them fall from one cut. She would be strong, for herself...and for Naruto.

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Naruto was now unable to see the fight from his webby bindings. Unfortunately the battle had moved to far from his position to see anything. "Damn this web." said Naruto as he struggled to get loose. Naruto gave up his struggles and let out a sigh. _'I hope Hinata is alright. It's been about an hour since they moved too far away.' _thought the blond with worry. As if to answer his question, a heart-stopping scream rang throughout the forest and it sounded a lot like..."HINATA!!!"

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**Well that's it for this chapter. I'll post again when I feel like it. Bye.**

**_Please review..._Alright who would have wanted to kill me just now for making this little cliffhanger? Huh? Huh? Any takers?**

**(shuts up from countless evil glares) a-alright moving along...

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Kidomaru watched as his large summon shot a web-like spear at the young Hyuuga, expecting another dodge. He watched as the young girl barely dodged a fatal blow from the spear, instead receiving a deep gash in her side. Kidomaru wondered why the girl didn't dodge the attack like she did all the others.

Hinata panted hard, trying to draw breath into her tiring body while she grasped the deep wound in her side. The monstrous spider let out another fearsome roar as it attempted to impale Hinata with two more web-like spears. Hinata dodged the two spears as she concentrated on making two more chakra blades in the palms of her hands. She charged the overgrown spider again, dodging more web-spears on the way.

Hinata thrust the chakra blades into the center of the beast's head, between its many eyes, as neared the disgusting creature. The once loud, roaring creature became deadly silent as Hinata pulled the blades from its skull. Hinata then slashed across its face, causing the spider's head to split in half.

Once the bottom half of the dead spider's head touched the grass-covered ground, it's whole body disappeared in a large puff of smoke. Kidomaru cursed as he thought of only one way to defeat the incredibly strong girl. He would have to use his cursed seal Level 2. The six-armed man did just that. His skin turned dark red as he jumped about five meters back, landing on a high branch. More changes occurred as he landed. His hair turned gray and grew longer. His sound headband fell to the ground as the third eye it covered opened. His teeth grew long and pointed as well. His final changes were two medium sized horns that grew from his forehead.

Kidomaru reached into his mouth and pulled out yet another weapon made of the same golden substance. He pulled out an arrow of the same substance. He took aim, his third eye giving him increased accuracy, and said "Time to die." in a disgustingly cheerful voice.

Naruto continued his struggling, trying to get free. He was worried that the scream he heard meant Hinata was hurt, or...maybe even... "No! I can't think like that. Hinata wouldn't be killed that easily!" he yelled to himself. This was the fifth time he'd told himself this. It wasn't helping.

Hinata was panting heavily now. The wound in her side had continued to bleed, also, most of her chakra had been depleted from using **Shugohakke Rokujuuyon Shoo **twice _and_ four chakra blades. She was running on pure will power alone.

"I...won't...give up. I...need... to...protect...Naruto-kun." she said in between gasps. Kidomaru had a lock on her from his far tree branch, ready to test his theory from before. Kidomaru said "**Kumo Senkyuu: Sasaku**"(Spider War Bow: Terrible Split) and released the arrow, causing it to fly towards it's target at an extremely high velocity.

The arrow continued to fly towards Hinata at an unimaginable speed, but Hinata continued to stand in the same spot. The arrow neared her as she turned her head, finally seeing the deadly arrow. Hinata's eyes widened as the arrow quickly closed gap between itself and its target. The sound of metal digging into flesh was heard, immediately followed by an explosion that could be heard through the forest.

A large cloud of dust was brought about by the explosion. Kidomaru waited for the dust to clear, he found that the girl was still standing, although she had a small hole in her shoulder, about the size of a quarter. Even though he'd missed his initial target, Kidomaru still wore a sadistic grin. He had proven his theory._ 'The girl had appeared to be able to see 360 degrees, but as he had just learned, Hinata was only able to see in 359 degrees, leaving that one degree to be a...blind spot.' _thought Kidomaru his grin still in place.

Hinata's eyes were wide, her breathing was rigid, and her mind was racing. _'He's figured out where the Byakugan's blind spot is.' _she thought in horror. She had to run, if the sound-nin knew exactly where the blind spot was, then she wouldn't last through another attack. Hinata's hand shot to her bleeding shoulder as she winced, the pain finally setting in.

Kidomaru pulled another arrow from his throat, except this arrow had a new addition, a thin string of web. Kidomaru readied his bow again. Kidomaru took aim and fired the golden arrow. He watched with satisfaction as the arrow moved directly in the center of Hinata's blind spot.

Hinata heard the slicing of the air made by the deadly arrow and quickly started to run forward, out of the clearing and into the thick forest. The arrow followed her into the forest, as it slowly caught up with the girl. Hinata made a sharp turn to her right and continued to run. Confident that she lost the arrow, Hinata used her Byakugan to look behind herself. Her eyes grew wide with horror as she caught a glimpse of the golden arrow curve around the corner before disappearing behind her blind spot.

_'Thanks to that web attached to the end, I can control the movements of the arrow by channeling a little chakra into it. There's no escaping this time, brat.' _thought the sound-nin. Hinata rounded a few more trees before hiding behind one of the many trees around her. The arrow continued to move forward, as it sliced the edge of the tree Hinata was hiding behind, finally hitting the ground, causing another explosion and another large crater.

Blood trickled down Hinata's face from the small cut on her cheek, caused by the speeding arrow. Kidomaru cursed at his careless actions. The arrow had eventually started to lose speed and tilted towards the ground, causing Kidomaru to lose control. Kidomaru didn't hesitate to bring out another arrow. This final arrow had a different tip, now looking like a drill, in addition to the string of web at the end. Kidomaru once again readied his bow, took aim, and fired.

The new arrow flew forward at a much higher velocity than the others. It approached a tree and drove through it, completely destroying a small section of the large tree.

Hinata heard the carnage the new arrow created as it ground through more trees like paper. She closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to beat the sound-nin before the oncoming arrow tore her apart. After a few moments Hinata opened her eyes. She walked forward and stopped in front of the large crater. She turned around to face the speeding arrow that was now only mere feet away and closed her eyes. Waiting for the impact of the arrow to come.

The drill-like arrow plowed through another couple of trees before finding its target. Hinata waited for another few seconds before feeling an unreal pain in her abdomen. The arrow carried Hinata over the crater and finally slammed her into another tree. The arrow continued for another few feet before digging into the ground, finally coming to a stop. Hinata took a moment to overcome the immense pain and grabbed the string that was going through her body. She channeled her raw chakra into the string and watched it flow through, eventually going all the way back to Kidomaru's hiding spot.

The chakra traveled up the string continuing to Kidomaru's mouth. Before he had a chance to cut the string that was still attached to the inside of his body, the chakra traveled down his throat, effectively frying his internal organs. As Kidomaru fell from the tree, Hinata cut the string in her stomach and sprinted towards Kidomaru. Kidomaru reverted to his original form as he approached the ground. In an instant Hinata was in front of the dying sound-nin, his eyes widened as he saw the dark-haired girl. She used the last of her chakra and attacked Kidomaru with two final palm strikes to his chest, completely destroying his heart.

Kidomaru's lifeless body hit the ground with a thud, Hinata landing on her feet right after. "I...won." she said with the last of her breath. As she fell backwards, a small smile graced her lips as she thought of what she had accomplished. She had proven to herself that she wasn't weak, that she didn't always need to be protected. The accomplishment that she was most proud of was the fact that she succeeded in protecting the boy she loved.

_'Naruto-kun...As long as you are safe...my life will not end in vain.' _those were Hinata's last thoughts as she closed her eyes and waited for her life to end.

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**Well this is seriously the end of the chapter. My eyes are actually getting a little watery after that last line. **

**Wow, this was a long chapter. I think it's the longest chapter I've ever written. **

**And for those of you who say that my chapters aren't long enough, there you go, more than 3,500 words, right there.**

_**Please review**_


	5. Secrets Told Only In Death

**Hello again, to all of my fans! I have brought a brand new chapter with me! **

**Author's Note**

**Alright, this is the chapter that started this whole story. The only problem is that I might have to disappoint a couple of people in the process of making the next chapter make sense. I'll explain at the end. Also, a few things in the chapter might not make sense to you guys, but if they don't then tell me in a review or e-mail me and I'll answer any questions.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO

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"Argh...what the hell is it with this net!" yelled a very flustered Naruto. He'd been struggling for about an hour now with no promising results. He continued his struggles until he heard a large explosion in the distance. His eyes widened as he thought _'What the hell was that? Man, if I don't get down soon, Hinata might actually...die.' _Naruto shook his head to rid his mind of the disturbing thoughts. His struggling stopped again as another explosion could be heard.

Naruto looked up from his struggling, towards where the explosions came from. His eyes had widened again as he aimlessly stared off in the direction of the explosions. His staring contest with the air continued for about ten minutes, his hope for Hinata's survival decreasing by the second.

Naruto was to busy with worrying to notice the net of web suddenly start to give way...

"Huh..." said Naruto as he looked down to see the ground quickly start to come closer "AHHHHHH" screamed the blonde as he sped towards the hard ground. Naruto hastily tried to grab a large branch that was coming closer in an attempt to stop the deadly plummet. He slammed onto the branch momentarily knocking the breath out of him. He kept his grasp on the large branch and let out a long sigh. His moment of relief was quickly ended as he heard a loud crack. He looked up to see a large crack in the branch he was hanging from. The damaged branch let out a long moan as it tilted more and more towards the ground.

"Oh, come on!" yelled the unfortunate blond as the rest of the branch made a loud snap, dismembering itself from the tree's trunk.

"AAHHHHHH" screamed Naruto as he began his long tumble towards the ground.

Naruto raced through the air, finally coming in contact with the ground, causing a sickening thud. Unfortunately for Naruto, sometime during his drop, Naruto had flipped upside-down, causing him to eventually land on his head.

"Owwww." he groaned as he sat up, rubbing the large bump that was already forming on the top of his head.

"Why'd that stupid net suddenly give out?" he mumbled to himself. "Wait a second...Hinata!" said the blonde as he frantically looked around, trying to remember where the explosions from before had come from. That was when another noise caught his ear. It sounded like...drilling? Naruto decided that where ever the noise had come from must be where Hinata was.

Naruto sped off in the direction of the noise, hoping to find Hinata along the way.

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Naruto could hear trees crashing to the ground as he moved further into the woods. Then, it all stopped. Complete silence filled the woods. No drilling, no trees crashing, not even any birds chirping; total and utter silence.

It shook Naruto to his core; he knew that silence like this was never a good sign. "Please be alright, Hinata." said Naruto as he sped up his pace a little.

Naruto finally came across a small clearing. It wouldn't have been any different than the other few clearings he'd seen on the way here if it weren't for the large crater in the center. "Whoa, where'd this thing come from" said Naruto as he peered over the edge. He saw what appeared to be an arrow embedded into the ground. Naruto figured that it was fired from his left. "Maybe Hinata took the fight that way" said Naruto as he headed off to the left.

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Naruto quickly ran past a few trees before ending up in an even smaller clearing than before. He hastily looked around the area, starting with the tops of trees to his right, moving to the left trees, and eventually stopping on the ground to his left.

Naruto gasped and called out "Hinata!" as he spotted her seemingly lifeless body on the ground. He ran over to her, falling to his knees as he reached her. He propped her head up with his arm and called her name. When he got no response, Naruto panicked. He gently laid her back on the ground and pressed his ear against her chest. He let out a sigh as he heard a faint heartbeat.

Naruto sat back up and continued to prop Hinata up with his arm. He studied Hinata's battered and bloodied body to see the extent of her injuries. Her over-sized jacket was stained dark red in many places from the many injuries covering her body. Her face was paler than usual from the blood loss. She had a cut on her cheek and a deep gash on her right side. She had a small hole going directly through her left shoulder and another about the size of a baseball to the left of her stomach.

Naruto looked away from the bloody girl and saw the dead body of the sound-nin Hinata had fought. _'Hinata really won?!'_ he thought. _'That's amazing! I couldn't even touch the guy.'

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_

While Naruto was busy admiring Hinata's work, the young Hyuuga girl slowly started to open her eyes. Feeling weak, the young girl was only able to open her eyes half-way. She slowly looked around her surroundings wondering one thing _'Am I...alive?'_

After a few moments, Hinata realized that something was propping her head up. Not having the strength to move and see what was holding her up, Hinata turned her attention to her left. Her tired eyes landed upon something bright and orange. Her gaze traveled up the orange object and landed on something pale with blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and whisker marks. Hinata's eyes immediately shot open as she realized that it was Naruto she was staring at. A dark red blush was added to her shocked face as she realized that she was being held by the boy.

She quietly said "Naruto-kun?", but it came out as more of a squeak than a name.

Naruto had been admiring how strong Hinata had proved to be, when he heard a small squeak that sounded oddly like his name. He turned his attention back to the young Hyuuga. What he saw shocked him slightly. The formerly unconscious girl was now wide awake with a deep red blush covering her face. He was amazed that even after losing so much blood from her wounds, she was still capable of having a blush that deep.

"Hinata! Are you alright?" asked the blond out of concern. _'What am I saying? Of course she isn't alright. She has a hole in her stomach the size of a damn baseball!' _thought Naruto. Hinata only partially heard Naruto, as she was too lost in her thoughts. She was thinking of the position she was in. She was slowly bleeding to death in the arms of the boy she secretly loved. _'There is only one thing I need to do before I die.' _she thought. Hinata swallowed hard and prepared to tell Naruto what she needed to say

"N-Naruto-kun..." said Hinata weakly. "I-I need to t-tell you something."

"But Hinata, I need to take you back to Konoha. Can't it wait until you're heal-" he was cut off before he could finish.

"Please N-Naruto-kun, I've a-already lost too much b-blood, they wouldn't be able to h-help me by the t-time we got b-back. P-please just let m-me say what I need to s-say."

Naruto was about to continue his argument until he saw the pleading look in her eyes. "Thank you, N-Naruto-kun." She said with a weak smile

"Ever s-since I first m-met you at the n-ninja academy when we were e-eight, I felt a s-strange feeling towards you N-Naruto-kun. After the first d-day at the academy I knew you w-were special. As time m-moved on I began to a-admire everything you did. The way you n-never gave up no matter how i-impossible the task seemed. The way you aspired to b-become stronger to reach your d-dreams. I noticed that you were everything I wanted to be and t-that made my a-admiration for you grow." she said, her smile still in place.

"After we g-graduated I began to watch you from a distance, never having the courage to talk to you. Before the chuunin e-exams began, I started to feel a-another feeling towards you, something o-other than admiration. When you cheered me on d-during the chuunin exams and when you f-fought Neji for what I believed in, I felt the strange feeling grow." Tears began to form in her eyes as she prepared for what she was about say

"Now I t-think I finally know what the s-strange feeling was. I believe the new feeling was...love, Naruto-kun." Naruto's eyes widened at the dying girl's statement. _'Hinata...' _he thought as he stared at the dying girl in his arms, shock clearly evident on his face. Hinata shakily raised her arm, cupping the blonde's cheek in her hand. Her weak yet warm smile never leaving her face.

"In truth...I believe...that I have fallen in love with you, Naruto-kun..." those were the Hinata's final words as her body went limp and her eyes closed.

"Hinata? Hinata!" yelled Naruto, trying to get a response from the girl. Her body remained limp.

"HINATA!!!"

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**wait, wait, WAIT. I know what you are all thinking. **

**"Oh! Hinata told Naruto her true feelings. Now this will be a short story" WRONG!!! Just because Hinata told Naruto doesn't mean he will automatically love her back. It just doesn't work like that. (trust me) This WILL be much longer, as I have already worked out a suitable plot that WILL be long and WILL make sense. **

**Well, that's all. Man this may be my saddest and (as much as I hate this word) cutest chapter I have ever written. What can I say, I'm a sap for love scenes. Just so you guys know, the part where Hinata tells Naruto about her true feelings is the idea that started this entire story. **

**Alright, I am going to answer a question you guys might have asked when you started to read this chapter: **

**"Why did the net holding Naruto to the tree, suddenly give out?"**

**This is my answer for this:**

**1) The chakra in the net eventually dissipated.**

**That's all.**

_**Please review**_


	6. Guilt

**Hello everybody! Yet another chapter for you all to enjoy…or hate, either way works. Well I already know people will be asking questions like "Why did this happen?" and "How did they do that?"**

**Listen, I will answer the questions that you guys will probably ask in you reviews. So feel free to ask away. Anyway on with the story.**

**And incase any of you were wondering, yes I did change my PenName to Dark Inferno. Why? Because I felt like it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO**

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"HINATA!!!" 

Naruto hastily shook Hinata's lifeless body, trying to reawaken the seemingly dead girl. _'Dammit!' _screamed Naruto in his mind. He quickly stood, Hinata still in his arms.

"I need to hurry and get Hinata back to the village."he said to himself. As soon as Naruto took his first step, he suddenly remebered that his three missing teammates had still not returned. It had been two hours since Kiba and Shikamaru had split from the team and nearly four since they'd left Chouji.

Naruto quickly found a solution to the problem. He gently placed Hinata's body on the ground and created three **Kage Bunshin**. As soon as the clones had appeared, Naruto immediately picked Hinata's lifeless form up off of the ground. He turned and prepared to inform his look alikes of their own, seperate missions.

"Alright, you two..." he said addressing the two clones to the left."...need to head north of here and look for Kiba and Shikamaru. If they are still fighting when you get there then do what ever you can to help. If not then hurry and bring them back to the village."

"You..." said the original Naruto to the final clone "...need to head east of here and look for Chouji." All three clones nodded their understanding and headed off into their assigned directions. The original Naruto left to the south, heading directly back to the village, with a motionless Hinata still in his arms.

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Naruto was currently running south from the clearing where he found Hinata, desperately trying to get back to the village. He stared down at the girl in his arms, while trying to concentrate on his surroundings to avoid any unwanted colisions with one of the many trees. 

_After the first day at the academy I knew you were special_

The dying girl's words from moments ago still rang through the blonde's mind as he continued to stare at her. Naruto looked up from the young Hyuuga, fierce determination evident on his face.

_'Don't worry Hinata, I won't let you die, no matter what it takes.' _he thought as he picked up his pace, determination to save his friend, to save the one person that truthfully cared about him.

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The two Naruto clonnes that were sent to search for Kiba and Shikamaru, were sitting on a high branch in a tree like all the others in the forest, trying to catch their breath. They had been jumping from branch to branch for what seemed to be hours, frantically searching for their missing commrades in the process. 

"Dammit, where are they?" asked one of the Narutos, looking to the other for an answer. The other clone just shrugged his shoulders as he regained his breath. The first Naruto gave an exasperated sigh in response.

The duo's heads both shot up as they heard a scream ring out through the forest that sounded a lot like...

"Shikamaru!" yelled the duo in unison. Moments later they heard another scream come from the same direction, except this one sounded like...

"Kiba!" the two clones yelled at the same time again. The first clone looked over to his companion and said "We gotta hurry, Shikamaru and Kiba are in trouble." said the first Naruto look alike. The other Naruto nodded as the two sped off in the direction of the screams.

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The original Naruto had been running for at least twenty minutes, at about three times faster than usual thanks to his so-called clever idea of channeling chakra into his feet. He continued to glance down at the dying girl in his arms, his worry quickly becoming intense panic. 

Hinata's once cream-colored jacket was now almost completely dark red, dyed that color from all the lost blood. Her skin was deathly pale and he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. To say that Naruto was panicing would be the understatement of the year.

Naruto felt like the world had been lifted from his shoulders as he saw the giant gates of Konohagakure come into view. He ran past the opening gates and made a bee-line for the hospital.

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Tsunade was making her usual rounds around the village. She enjoyed these peaceful walks througout the village, not only for the fact that she was able to get away from the mountains of paper work crowding her desk, but because she enjoyed the tranquility that every other village she had visited seemed to lack. 

Tsunade's former student and close friend, Shizune, was walking next to the fifth Hokage, along with her pet pig, TonTon, happily trotting next to her. Shizune had, much to Tsunade's dismay, trailed behind her, constantly nagging the Hokage to get back to her office and finish her paperwork. Of course Tsunade ingnored her nagging assistant, continuing her walk. Shizune had finally given up about five minutes into the walk, knowing her former sensei was too thick headed to listen.

The group of three (counting TonTon) were now visiting the Konoha Hospital. Tsunade had insisted that she make sure that everything was in perfect working order.

After about an hour and a half, Tsunade walked back to the entrance, a large smile on her face. Knowing that the hospital was in perfect condition always put a smile upon her 'young' (_cough-__fifty-year old-cough)_ face. Why? No one may ever know.

Her lively smile seemed to vanish as the doors at the entrance to the hospital burst open. What she saw shocked her, as her eyes went wide. Naruto was standing in the doorway, holding a bloody Hinata in his arms.

Before Naruto could even ask for help Tsunade was in front of him asking "What the hell happened?!"

* * *

Naruto had burst through the front doors of the hospital that he had visited on more than one occasion. His explosive entrance had caused his new audience of patients, staff, and bystanders to stare, earning a few gasps in the background. 

He was about to ask for help when he noticed a very shocked Tsunade standing in front of him. The next thing he knew, Tsunade was going into some rant about 'how she knew she shouldn't have sent Hinata on that mission' while Shizune had called for a stretcher.

Naruto stared at Tsunade, confusion an obvious expresion on his face, while Hinata was taken from his arms. Tsunade had started to walk around in circles, continuing her rant, while Naruto watched Hinata get wheeled away by half a dozen medic-nins along with Shizune, down some pale white hallway.

Tsunade finally stopped her strange conversation with herself and looked at the blonde in front of her. He continued to look down the hallway that Hinata had occupied only moments ago.

"Is...is Hinata gonna be alright?" he asked as he continued to stare at the abandoned hallway. Tsunade could see the genuine concern on the boys face and was pained to say "I'm not sure, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes dropped as he looked towards the ground. He continued to stare at the pale-colored linoleum tile as he remembered another piece of Hinata's revelation...

_When you cheered me on d-during the chuunin exams and when you fought Neji for what I believed in, I felt the strange feeling grow..._

He looked down towards the ground, depression quickly over taking the usually cheerful Naruto. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up too see Tsunade smiling down on him.

"Don't worry Naruto, incase you've forgotten, you have the world's best medic-nin as your Hokage." she said with a proud grin. Naruto put on a sad smile at the older blonde's comforting words.

However his mind was only at peace for a few moments as the doors to the hospital were once again busted open. This time three Narutos were standing in the doorway, each carrying a wounded teammate in their arms.

* * *

The clones that he had sent to find his lost teammates and friends had burst through the front doors. Shikamaru and Kiba were in the arms of two of the clones, bleeding profusely from deep gashes running across their chests. Chouji was being held by the third clone and seemed like he was just fine, except for the fact that he had somehow become very skinny. 

Tsunade ran over to the clones and assesed the wounded shinobi's wounds. She concluded that the only wounds they had were the deep gashes across their chests that seemed to be caused by some sort of sword. The Hokage quickly made a few hand seals and her hands started to glow a light blue. She placed her glowing hands over the wounds and they healed to the point of where they were only long cuts.

She ordered two nearby medic-nins to bandage their now small wounds. As the two shinobi were carried away, Tsunade told Naruto to go ahead and go home whlie she tended to Chouji. Naruto shook himself from his shocked state and slowly nodded.

He exited the hospital and began his long walk home.

* * *

Naruto ingnored the strange stares he kept getting from the villagers he passed by. What surprised him was the fact that these stares weren't the usual hateful glares he was used to getting from the villagers, instead they were more fearful than anything else. Naruto couldn't understand why the villagers would be afraid of him. 

He just continued his walk home, his mind constantly wandering back to his injured teammates, mainly Hinata. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that he was standing right in front of his door. He pulled his key from his back pocket and unlocked the door. As he entered, Naruto placed his key on the small table he ate at. He was about to flop onto his small bed when something caught his eye.

The key he had just laid down on his small table seemed to be red for some reason. He picked the key back up and inspected it closely. His eyes widened at what he saw. It appeared that the key was covered in blood.

He looked at his left hand and found out why he was getting the strange stares from the villagers. His hand and part of his sleeve were covered in the blood that had flowed from Hinata's shoulder. With the sickening discovery, Naruto remembered the final words Hinata had spoken before losing conciousness.

_In truth...I believe...that I have fallen in love with you, Naruto-kun..._

The words she spoke in those few moments meant almost nothing to him at the time, mainly because he was too worried about her bleeding to death. But now, as those heart-filled words played over and over again in his head, their meaning finally seemed to sink in. He had finally found someone who truely cared for him. Someone other than Iruka who didn't think that he was a loser or a monster.

But now she was dying. The one person other than Iruka that actually cared about him was dieing in the hospital and he finally realized why. Now, after seeing the blood that had spilled because of him, Naruto could only think of one reason for why this had happened. For why Hinata had been hurt. For why everyone on the mission, except for himself, had been harmed. It all happened because he was too weak. He was too weak to free himself from that damn net and help Hinata.

All of this pain and suffering had been caused by his own weakness.

* * *

**Well alright. Thats all for this chapter. Not the best, I know. Probably too sad and depressing, I know, but not every chapter can be a good one, unfortunately.**

**It wasn't easy to write, thats for damn sure. I kept on changing things around, over and over again, and it still doesn't sound all that great to me, but like I said, not all chapters can be good ones.**

**_please review_**


	7. Relief, Flowers, and Blushing

**Yeah! I'm back again, with an all new chapter. I realised that I forgot to write about what happened to Kiba and Shikamaru before they were found by the Naruto clones. Also, I know the sand siblings were supposed to make their grand appearance during that time, but for what I wrote last chapter to make sense, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro had to be left out. Lets just say they left the leaf-village a little too early. But listen, should I make the next chapter about what happaned or just write about it in the next Authors Notes? I'll let you guys decide, since I couldn't care less either way.**

**Well on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO! **(damn)

* * *

Shizune walked the quiet, pale white, halls of the hospital, trying to remember where Hyuuga Hinata was staying. She was still slightly disgusted by the large wounds the girl had endured through. Thankfully they had been able to heal her wounds to a point where they could heal on their own with minimal scarring. And it was all thanks to the secret healing technique Tsunade hadsuggested. 

_Flashback_

_Tsunade quickly walked down the hallway, hoping to find Shizune before it was too late. She let out a sigh of relief as she found her former apprentice in one of the many surgery rooms, desperately trying to heal the dying Hyuuga with a madical jutsu. She was not making much progress. Tsunade ran over to Shizune and stopped her healing, recieving a shocked stare. _

_"Its no use Shizune. Simple medical justsu like that won't be enough to heal Hinata's wounds." said Tsunade. Shizune stared at the Hokage, completely dunbfounded. "The only thing we can do now is..." Shizune's voice faded as Tsunade suggested. "**Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu**"_(Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique) _Shizune stared at the Hokage. "But, Tsunade-sama, there is a high chance that that technique might not even work." she said._

_"We don't have any other choice. We either give it a shot or let Hinata die, and since the latter is not an option, I suggest we begin the jutsu as soon as possible._

_Shizune nodded "Come, we need to get her to the underground chamber, you know how big the seal has to be." said Tsunade as she started to walk out of the room. Shizune, along with several other medic-nin present, started off after the Hokage, Hinata in Shizune's arms._

_'This is going to be a long night." thought Tsunade as she walked through the long staircase leading to the underground chamber. _

_End Flashback_

Thankfully the jutsu had worked, unfortunately Hinata was left unconcious from chakra depletion. Shizune had estimated that Hinata would be unconcious for at least two more days after the use of the jutsu. It had already been two days.Shizune continued her search, desperately trying to remember where Hinata's room was.

* * *

Naruto sat in the depressing silence of his room. His windows were closed, leaving the room dark, adding to the already depressing atmosphere. Naruto was sitting on his bed, staring blankly at the floor, silently wishing that it would just come alive and swallow him whole. Anything to rid him of the intense guilt he was feeling. He still had no clue if Hinata was dead or alive. It had been two days since the failure of the mission and Naruto's hope for Hinata's survival was slowly fading away. 

His eyes drooped from exaustion. He had also been having nightmares when he tried to sleep. Every time he would nod off, Naruto would see Hinata lying on the ground, covered in her own blood. He would run over to her and hold her the same way he did in the forest. She would open her eyes, but instead of the dreamy look they had in the forest, they were full of hate. She would glare at him, eventually openeing her mouth and saying "Its all your fault." before dying in his arms. He would snap awake, usually ending up in tears. He couldn't take the hateful glare he got from the Hinata in his dream. It reminded him of all of the others in the village. Of all the others who hated him. So he stayed awake, never wanting to experience the glare again, especially from her.

He listened to the constant _tick tick _of his alarm clock, it was slowly eating away at his sanity. Finally something broke through the depressing silence. Naruto looked over to his window as it opened and a certain perverted, white-haired man hopped down from the window sill.

"What's up brat?" said Jiraiya. The old hermit had heard about Naruto's mission from Tsunade and decided to come down and make sure Naruto didn't go into some kind of depression. From the looks of it he was too late. "What do you want Jiraiya?" asked Naruto as he continued his staring contest with the floor. Jiraiya looked at the boy, his eyes wide in shock. Naruto _never_ used his real name. _'he must really be out of it.'_ thought the sannin. "Its not your fault the mission failed. The way I see it, it was because of you that your friends survived. If you hadn't sent your Kage Bunshin out to look for them, it might have been ours before a search party found them." said Jiraiya.

"But because I couldn't escape from a net the enemy trapped me in, I couldn't go and help Shikamaru and Kiba. Because I couldn't free myself, Hinata got hurt. She's probably dead by now." Naruto said the final part of his statement no louder than a whisper. Jiraiya looked at the blonde simpathetically.Seeing the young shinobi like this reminded him of what he had felt after Orochimaru left the village. Thanfully Jiraiya had visited Tsunade that morning to find out about Naruto's mission. During his visit, Jiraiya learned some information that would lift the blonde's spirits a little.

"Your friend isn't dead." said the sannin. The simple statement made Naruto's head snap up, his eyes wide as he stared at the perverted old man. Jiraiya smiled, satisfied with the fact that he was able to cheer the kid up a little and walked back towards the window he came from. Before he exited the small apartment, Jiraiya said "Blaming yourself won't make the events of the past change. Instead, you should be looking for a way to get stronger, so you can prevent things like this from happening again. If you decide to try and strengthen yourself, come and find me. I think I'll be able to help." with that, the white-haired sannin left Naruto to think about what he said.

Naruto sat on his bed, Jiraiya's words repeating themselves in his mind.

_'He's right, I need to get stronger, but first...' _Naruto's thoughts trailed off as he jumped from his bed to get dressed. Before he thought about getting stronger, Naruto had to see a certain pale-eyed girl.

* * *

Moments later, Naruto emerged from his apartment, no longer plagued by his intense guilt. He started off towards the hospital, his hands on his head as he walked the busy streets of Konoha. As he walked by all of the merchants and small shops, something caught his eye. "The Yamanaka Flower Shop" said Naruto as he read the sign that hung over the doorway. _'Hmm...'_

_

* * *

_

Naruto entered the flower shop, hearing the small bell above the door. He looked around and saw walls lined with flowers. Even though he had been in the shop a few times in the past in attempts to impress Sakura, which all failed miserably, he still had absolutely no clue what most of the flowers were called.He looked over the rows of flowers, trying to decide which one Hinata would like the most, when he heard the all too familiar, annoying, voice of Yamanaka Ino. 

"Hi Naruto. " She watched as Naruto ignored her and continued to search through the rows of flowers. "Your not trying to impress Sakura again, are you?" she asked, a pitiful look on her face. Naruto looked at her and said "No, actually its for Hinata." he said with a grin. He instantly regretted what he said as the blonde girl squeled and started to unload a ton of questions.

"Did she finally get through that thick head of yours? Are you two going out? Did she actually tell you how she feels?" Naruto sweat dropped. Ino was about to continue her onslaught of questions when her mother called from up the stairs. "Ino, can you come here for a second?" asked her mother. "In a minute mom." called Ino. "Don't move, I'll be right back." she said as she walked up the stairs.

Naruto quickly looked around and picked a red flower to his left. He then procedded to create a Kage Bunshin. He slapped some money in the clone's hand and quickly said " Here pay Ino with this. See ya." as he ran out the door. The clone stared at the door completely dunbfounded. He heard Ino come back and heard her continue her interrogation.

After she finished all of her questions, the blonde kunoichi looked at the clone expectantly "Well, are you going to answer me or just stand there like an idiot?"

"Uhhh...who are we talking about again?"

* * *

Naruto looked down at the flower he had managed to snatch before fleeing the Yamanaka's flower shop. It was a rose. To Naruto it was just another flower but to others it was a symbol of love and affection. If only he knew that. 

Soon the large hospital came into view. Naruto hurried over to the large building and entered. He walked over to the receptionist and asked what room Hyuuga Hinata was staying in. The woman told him that she was in room 136, down the long hallway to his left, fifth door to the right. Naruto thanked the receptionist and started off down the long hallway.

Naruto finally found room 136 and opened the door. He smiled softly as he saw the sleeping form of Hyuuga Hinata lying in the single hospital bed. He walked over to her bedside and placed the his rose in the vase that had been conveniently placed on the bedside table. He pulled up a chair that was placed along the wall and sat next to the girl. He stared at her and noticed something different about Hinata. Maybe it was the light from the window or the fact that she looked so peaceful, something about her made Naruto think she looked kind of...cute, no it was something else. What was it?

As he thought this over he once again remembered what Hinata had said in the forest, while she was in his arms.

_In truth...I believe...that I have fallen in love with you, Naruto-kun..._

Naruto blushed at the memory and stared at the sleeping Hyuuga. As he continued to remember the events in the forest, Naruto realized something. In the forest, when he held her, Naruto thought that she looked different then too. But he came to realize that Hinata didn't look cute like he originally thought. No, the word he would use to describe her wasn't cute, but...beautiful. Naruto quickly shook the thought from his head. _'I shouldn't be thinking about her like that. She's just a friend. I like Sakura-chan...right?" _he debated the thoughts in his mind. It was true that he did like Sakura, but he had only thought of her as pretty, not once did he ever use the word beautiful to describe her. And Hinata had never hit him, never called him an idiot, and from what she said she really liked him.

_'Maybe I should give up on Sakura. Maybe I should like...no I don't like Hinata like that. Not yet at least.' _he paused his thoughts and looked over at Hinata. He smiled at the sleeping girl as he started to feel his eyelids get heavy. Naruto slowly started to nod off, his exaustion finally taking over. Finally the blonde fell asleep, one thing still on his mind...

_Hinata..._

_

* * *

_Hinata slowly started to stir, her eyes slowly starting to open. She was only able to open her eyes a little due to the light pouring in from the window. She wondered where she was. If she was dead. She looked around her surroundings seeing the blank, white, walls surrounding her. She realised that she was in a hospital room.

_'I'm...alive?' _she thought to herself. Her head was being propped up by a couple of pillows, allowing her to sit up without straining herself. Her entire body ached, but for some reason her leg seemed to be heavier than the rest of her body. She looked down and let out a small squeek. What she saw caused her eyes to grow wide, a blush instantly appearing on her face. Naruto was sound asleep on her leg. As she stared at him, everything that happened before she passed out in the forest came back to her. She remembered how he held her in the forest, she remembered how she explained everything that lead up to her feelings, but most of all she remembered how she cupped his cheek in her hand and told the blonde of her feelings for him.

All of these things caused her blush to increase in size, now covering her entire face and some of her neck. The combination of exaustion and all of the blood rushing to her head caused her to do something she always did in these situations

She fainted.

Naruto slowly stirred from his little nap after hearing a small squeek. He looked up groggily and saw that Hinata was still sound asleep, but something was different about her.

_'Why is Hinata blushing?'_

* * *

**Well thats finishes that chapter. Again I didn't really like this chapter all that much, overall. I loved the last part, though. Oh, and** **Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique is what they used on Neji after his fight in the Anime/Manga. **

**So, yeah **

**_Please Review_**


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